The Stray
by Carrot Puppy
Summary: After suffering as Remnant's resident victim of Murphy's Law, Signal professor Taiyang Xiao Long finds himself adopting a certain feline faunus. Shenanigans ensue. AU
1. The Orphan

The Orphan

* * *

Taiyang Xiao Long lived in a house on a hill.

A quaint little abode that was far from the greater Patch community. Its foundations were aged but as sturdy as the day they were laid. Thick beams of cedar composed the house's frame and walls. Instead of glass, traditional Patch paper was used to allow the smells of the neighboring forest. A hardy house, in tune with nature and tradition.

Many would have found the estate of a picturesque quality. The product of an architect's country dream, or the cottage of a whimsical millionaire. Those of a more observant nature, however, would find troubling discrepancies that painted an altogether darker picture.

Half a dozen garden boxes next to the house lacked the care and attention given to the front lawn. The wooden boxes were either empty or full of chocking weed. Gardening tools sat leaning against house's outer wall, abandoned and unused. Nearby a swing set and a toppled tricycle lay forgotten on the grass. The seat of the swing detached and hanging freely from a single vine of rusted chain. Amidst the grass was a tea party attended by stuffed animals stained with dirt and mud.

The empty wooden porch was marked in several places where chairs likely had been placed. A welcome mat was explicitly absent. Starkly contrasting the fading cottage walls was a sign hung from the doorway, a new sign in angry red that exclaimed 'No Visitors'.

Qrow absently noted the general disrepair of the yard but proceeded unperturbed. As a sign of goodwill he grabbed the mail from the stuffed mailbox before approaching the porch. His charge in tow, he rang the doorbell.

Taiyang could easily be described as fairly handsome man. He was a man constantly at the peak of fitness due to his profession as a hunter. Taiyang was also blessed with a natural rugged masculinity, as well as exuding an aura of understanding and calm unmatched. Under normal circumstances that is. As Qrow regarded his teammate and brother-in-law, Taiyang looked anything but attractive. Bloodshot eyes sat above dark bags that marked nights of restlessness. His skin was of a pale and unhealthy pallor while his frame seemed oddly thin. The man looked to be at the edge of death, or someone who had just crawled out of the grave.

"Hey brother," Qrow greeted carefully. Some rather harsh words had been exchanged between the two of them recently. No doubt the last person Taiyang had expected to see was his teammate standing on his porch with a little girl in tow.

As expected, Taiyang's eyes narrowed and quickly passed over the cloaked hunter. His stare falling instead on the girl porch as his face scrunched up in confusion. The small girl stood mutely in a drab wool outfit. The tips of her dark hair just under Qrow's waist. She seemed just about Yang's age, if far more frail looking. A black bow adorned her head and she carried a backpack whilst staring at the two men with an intense expression of uncertainty.

Taiyang coughed purposefully, "Qrow… who is this?"

Taiyang did not quite have the deer-in-headlights look Qrow had expected. But he was evidently caught off guard, which played perfectly into the cloaked hunter's plans. Donning his trademark grin he bowed extravagantly.

"Congratulations! It's a girl."

"What is the meaning of this?!"

Qrow raised an eyebrow at his teammate before taking a prodigious gulp of his tea, "Ah… hits the spot."

After letting himself into his buddy's abode Qrow had raided the cabinets for some of Patch's best. It helped that Taiyang himself seemed to be half in shock. The girl sat on a bar stool at the far end of the marble white countertop. She was watching the proceedings quietly, with an impassive look on her face.

Taiyang. Taiyang was pacing and wearing out his floors needlessly.

"Qrow! I demand an explanation! I-"

"Bro. It's so very simple," Qrow rolled his eyes as Taiyang continued to fume, the papers in the teacher's hands crinkling into little wads, "Let me spell it out like you do for your kids."

He took another sip, "Qrow went to city. Qrow visited orphanage. Qrow adopts kid for Taiyang," the grey huntress smiled in satisfaction at his teammate's darkening expression, "And now… Qrow delivers kid to Taiyang. Free of charge."

"Qrow you- you can't do this! You can't adopt some kid in my name!"

Hopping off the stool, Qrow walked along the counter before rubbing the kid's hair affectionately, "Sure I can, can't I?" he leaned down at the girl, who responded with an angry scowl.

"Yeesh. Well, the head caretaker seemed pretty excited anyway. You must have been some troublemaker huh," Qrow smirked as he waved his fingers. He laughed as Taiyang and the girl gave him matching exasperated looks.

"You need to take her back. I can't take care of her."

"Sure you can!" Qrow was at his friend's side in an instant, patting Taiyang on the back heartily, "No one else is more qualified! You take care of kids at Signal don't you? What's another one?"

"Qrow. You know what I mean. I'm busy. I have responsibilities."

Releasing himself from his friend's embrace Taiyang calmly moved towards the kitchen window. His back turned, Taiyang looked as peaceful as a man ever could with their profession as hunters.

It was a disgusting façade that grated Qrow to know end. The grey hunter growled in displeasure, "Responsibilities? Such as your extended sabbatical from Signal? Or the fact that you haven't left your home for the better part of half a year? Taiyang. You aren't busy," his voice dropped to a whisper, "You're dying."

Taiyang turned with a guilty sigh, and Qrow could see the undertones of grief on his friend's normally impassive face. The shame, the anger. It was the same expression he had held all those months ago.

"And so what if I died? What do I have to live for?"

It hurt Qrow to see his friend - his brother - like this. He had his own demons to face, but at least the hunter had his drink. Taiyang… he had nothing, not anymore.

"You have their memory. You have your students. You have your responsibilities to Signal, to Vale, to Remnant as a Hunter," Qrow sighed, "And you have me. For all that's worth. I will not stand by and see my teammate waste away in a little hovel on Patch."

"…not a hovel," Taiyang grumbled as Qrow's eyes brightened with hope at the man's attempt at levity.

"What I don't understand Qrow, is how this…" Taiyang gestured to the orphanage papers and then to the girl at the counter, "How do you expect me to take this? What am I supposed to do here? How could you even think about-"

"Because you owe it to them T," Qrow took a breath, "You are the best damn educator I ever saw. And you do so well with kids that sometimes… well-"

"Hey!"

"The point is. I have never seen you happier then when you're teaching or taking care of children. I have my drink, you have your… whatever you would call it," Qrow crossed arms defiantly as Taiyang attempted to protest, "They would want you to do this. This is the right thing to do."

"Qrow… I can't. I've failed too many times and it isn't fair for this poor girl," Taiyang glanced at their bystander, who was shifting awkwardly and adorably in her seat, "She deserves more than a broken home and a failed guardian."

Qrow only nodded his head, "She does… and what if I told you that if we sent her back there would be no home to go to?"

Taiyang and the girl gave him surprised looks.

"The caretakers told me. Full occupancy and she has come of age. If she doesn't get a home now… it's to the street for her."

The Signal professor clenched his fists in anger as he stared at the girl, who looked perfectly bewildered. She couldn't be more than eight years old, maybe nine. He knew the streets of Vale well. It was a monster. A monster that swallowed the poor and lost whole in its great maw of greed before spitting them out to die from violence, hunger, or whatever peril awaited around the next corner.

She wouldn't last a week. Or if she did… she would never be the same again.

"This is…"

Qrow nodded grimly, "Unfair? Impossible? Are you filled with righteous anger?" _You'd better be_ , were the unsaid words between the two men.

"The fact still remains Qrow," Taiyang sighed, "I can't take care of her. Can't you?"

"And why can't you? It's not as if you accomplish much these days."

"Oum damn it!" the girl gasped as Taiyang flew to Qrow, lifting him by his shirt color as his face contorted with anger, "Don't act stupid Qrow! How can you forget their deaths? How could you ask me to take care of one Vale's helpless… when I can't even protect my own daughters?"

Taiyang had the strength to lift a dozen beowolfs. The ferocity to tear a boarbatusk into a hundred pieces. He was one of the most powerful people in the world.

Qrow merely stared down at him, his lips a thin line of contempt, "Ruby and Yang were dear to me too. Of course I haven't forget my nieces, or the pain you and I both share. The judgement. The shame," Qrow's expression softened even as Taiyang's grip on his collar tightened, "… but I can't do it T. I could never be a father, only an uncle. I've asked Ozpin for a solo mission outside of Vale. Long-term. Permanent."

In an instant, Qrow was released to the hard wood floor. Bewildered, Taiyang took a step back,

"What?"

The grey hunter hunched his shoulders melancholically, "You have your kids… I have my drink and my missions. I can't stay in Vale T. I'm think I'm going to do what I was always best at," Qrow's flashed as he stared challengingly at Taiyang, who didn't meet his gaze, "I'm going to fight Grimm, and if I fall somewhere out there in the jungle… well…"

Taiyang watched as Qrow unscrewed the cap of that Oum damned bottle of his before his teammate gulped his unsavory liquid down.

"Qrow… I-"

"Do you feel the guilt?"

Taiyang paused, before nodding.

"So you know… that gnawing guilt. The "If I hads" and the "I should haves"," Qrow took another swig before continuing, "The others… they'll tell you it wasn't your fault. That you had no part in it. That nobody could have foreseen this."

Seconds passed before Taiyang realized Qrow was looking for an answer. Tentatively, he nodded.

"It's a load of crap. You feel that guilt? This is how you repay it," Qrow's eyes narrowed, "You do the best you can. For them. I'm going to kill Grimm for them. And you," the grey cloaked hunter poked the taller huntsmen in the stomach, "You're going to do what you've always done best. And maybe you might just save a life in the process."

Taiyang recoiled as if hit by a punch, but before he could muster the anger Qrow was already walking away.

"Qrow!"

The hunter was already at the doorstep. His grey cloak starting to turn white from the falling snow. He turned as Taiyang called his name, "I'm counting on you to do them right T, and to do this girl right," Qrow commanded, stepping backwards into the snowdrift. Less than a second later, Taiyang could barely make out the man's lithe form in the cascade of white.

And then his teammate was gone.

Taiyang woke to the sound of kitchen cabinets.

As a professional huntsman and a professor Taiyang was quite used to early rising. His senses – trained through bloody battle – had evolved to a near inhuman degree. He could hear the faintest steps and the faraway howls, his body always instinctively prepared for conflict. Two hours past midnight however, was anything but acceptable, especially in the comfort of his own home.

He sighed, mulling over the consequences if he chose to ignore the noise. An intruder was unlikely. Taiyang had little to steal and he held the reputation as a premier huntsman who did not tolerate visitors of any kind. He had not been expecting any guests or relatives. Thus, there was truly only one suspect. The orphan girl. Did he forget her name? It was so unlike him as an educator...

 _No_. He realized. He had kept himself ignorant. In a subconscious attempt to segregate himself from her.

Taiyang sighed as he pulled off his covers, heading for the kitchen with a yawn.

The girl had been deposited in the guest room. A very spartan part of the house originally intended to be his study before the family had been gifted a spare mattress. When placing her belongings he steered her away from the kids' room which was to remain undisturbed.

Maybe she was hungry? He reasoned as he blinked sleepy eyes, his sight only just adjusting to the darkness. The lights were off, but he could make out the silhouette of the girl in the kitchen staring at him, frozen in surprise. There seemed to be quite a mess, all the cabinets had evidenced of being searched whilst numerous containers and water bottles were lined up along the countertop.

"What is-" he stopped himself as his vision cleared, revealing one of his old backpack's half-stuffed with provisions at the girl's feet. She stared at him in the dark. A guilty expression, with elements of challenge and hesitance.

Taiyang sighed, it was too early in the morning to be dealing with orphan runaways, "Did you pack any lien too?"

The girl slowly shook her head. _Foolish girl_ , he was tempted to say.

"That's no good. Lien makes the world go round as they say."

"I don't steal," she whispered. Taiyang raised an eyebrow in response at her ironic attempt to proclaim a moral high ground,

"And what's all this then?"

The girl shuffled her feet guiltily, "I was going to pay this back. I only needed food… and water," the girl turned scarlet as she dropped her gaze to the floor.

"You seem rather… eloquent for an eight year old girl," he remarked in wonderment. As an educator and a father he had dealt with young kid before, and few were as well-spoken as the girl in front of him.

Her eyes flashed as she abruptly met his gaze, "Nine. I'm nine years old. We grow up fast in the home. We have to."

Taiyang could not relate personally. However, he had seen plenty of foster kids at Signal. They were different - in their own way - with a hardiness he could detect only as an adult huntsman.

He attempted to placate the nervous girl, speaking in a soothing tone that he reserved for children, "I see. However, an orphanage and the street are very different places."

The girl mumbled in response as she turned away. She was defiant, but hesitant, Taiyang could tell. This was a girl who had felt hunger, but not starvation. A girl who had always slept with a roof over her head. She was not ready for the worldly horrors that awaited her ill-planned adventure.

"Would it be so bad to stay?"

The girl stared at him as if he was crazy, "Stay with a man who has just lost his two daughters and kills people for a living? No thank you."

Taiyang winced, "I teach for a living actually. And I only kill grimm," slowly he approached her, before kneeling, ensuring his eyes met hers, "Regardless, I won't stop you if you decide you want to leave."

She bit her lip as she glanced between the door and the huntsman. Her form taut with apprehension as she clutched the backpack in her hands. Taiyang simply waited. Kneeling patiently as she repeated her furtive glances from door to him.

A minute passed. Before her eyes furrowed in concentration, "Could I really stay?"

"Yes," Taiyang sighed, his heart had not died with his daughters after all. There were no real choices in the matter, Qrow had taken them with him into the snowdrift.

"Even if I was… faunus?" she whispered before untying the pretty black bow in her hair, revealing twitching feline ears.

Taiyang gave her an amused smirk, "Young lady, I am a huntsman. I knew you were a faunus the minute you stepped onto my porch."

There was a pause, before the girl plastered a cute frown on her face, "I will never call you dad."

"Fine by me."

"You will never call me 'young lady' or 'dear', only Blake," Blake punctuated her provision by stamping her foot. Her cheeks puffed in petulance.

"A boy's name?" Taiyang coughed to hide his mirth, even as Blake shot him a frosty glare,

"My name."

"Alright, alright. What else?"

"If I ever want to leave. You have to let me."

"Noted."

Blake straightened herself to her fullest height as she crossed her arms. Her ears stood at attention as she attempted to tower over Taiyang's kneeled form,

"And you have to teach me. Teach me to fight."

Taiyang blinked, before cautiously nodding his head.

"I can… agree to such a condition. If you promise that you will fight only upon self-defense."

"Ok, I will."

Taiyang's expression hardened, as he held his calloused hand out to the girl, "Blake. This is serious. If you want to stay. If you want to learn from me. You must always practice self-defense. You must promise me this."

Amber eyes met his brown. A tiny palm met his own.

"I promise."


	2. The Informant

The Informant

* * *

Taiyang watched as his charge glared balefully at her plate. A veritable forest of vegetable green coated with a snowy layer of parmesan. A dish mirroring the wintery scene outside Taiyang's home to a tee, and one that evidently displeased Blake's taste buds.

"Disgusting," she yowled, her nose in the air as she pawed the salad out of her sight.

Taiyang raised an eyebrow speculatively. Spearing a spinach leaf he pretended to investigate it with a conspiring grin, "What? Something wrong with my cooking? Too little salt?"

Blake rolled her eyes. A dash of salt _might_ aid with the general tastelessness of the meal, but would serve little in making the salad more palatable. Not to mention the dry _leafy_ taste on her tongue. She pronounced her displeasure by crossing her arms and shaking her head.

"I won't eat it."

"Blake. Don't act like a child," Taiyang rubbed his head sheepishly, "… wrong words. Blake, you need to start on a healthy diet. I have no idea what the orphanage has been feeding you, but under my house you will eat be eating properly."

The hunter stated the words firmly with but a few threads of worry. Even a civilian could tell that Blake had been underfed her entire life. Her frame was entirely too thin for a girl of her age. The few times he had observed her putter around the house – exploring her new home – he found her endurance lacking the vigor one would expect from childhood. In addition, she slept far too long during the day and night.

 _Though… maybe her faunus heritage is to be considered?_ Taiyang mused, as he watched Blake make disgusted faces at her dinner.

Taiyang had worked with several faunus throughout his years. He had trained with many in Signal, in Beacon. Several of his students were faunus themselves. He was no stranger to faunus.

But their ways? Their culture? Their intricacies? He had lived through the faunus' rights revolution, but those events had seemed so far away from the hunter trekking through the jungles of the Grimm. Patch itself too, had little to no native faunus population.

It struck him like a lightning bolt. As someone whose job was to educate others, _I know so little about my fellow brethren_.

He glanced at Blake, who had starting to gingerly spoon her dinner into her mouth, shuddering with every action.

It was a comical sight, but Taiyang couldn't bring himself to enjoy it. For faunus like her… he had to do better. _Be_ better.

"Is there a particular reason you don't enjoy this?" he ventured unassumingly, "A personal preference?"

Blake put down her fork meaningfully before answering in deadpan, "Are you asking because I'm a faunus?"

"No!" Taiyang recoiled, mentally cursing his Oum-forsaken luck, "I mean… yes… if that is indeed the factor," he was an educator, he wouldn't lie to a child's face.

"I don't know. I just don't like it."

"Cats are primarily carnivorous aren't they?" Taiyang wondered aloud.

Blake shrugged, using the conversation as the perfect excuse to stop eating, "I was never taught to be faunus. I just am. There were the older kids… they said when we become of age…" she trailed off lamely.

 _To pass on the cultural traditions of being a faunus_ , Taiyang realized. Patch too, had many native traditions passed on from generation to generation, far from the bustle of Vale. Blake hid her expressions well, but the hunter could sense a distinct feeling of longing. A yearning.

 _She never had the opportunity to understand who she is or where she came from_.

Taiyang, whose family had been deeply rooted in island tradition could hardly wrap his head around it. The confusion this girl must feel.

Even the name Blake. A boy's name. Awkward and simple. Was this something a human caretaker had given her? Was there a faunus name out there she had been given when she had first arrived in the world?

An expression of dawning and sprightly hope on Blake's face interrupted his musings. She looked down, attempting to hide a mischievous expression, "I think… I think cat faunus are carnivores. So… I don't need to eat this," she declared quietly, even as Taiyang sighed audibly.

"Oh! And you should make me fish. A lot of fish. Preferably tuna… or salmon," Blake added helpfully.

Taiyang knew she was fibbing of course. She had, after all, just moments ago stated she knew very little about her faunus heritage.

The expectant look she held on her face however… it reminded him to much of his own daughters.

"Fishing… _is_ a major industry in Patch," the professor stated carefully, "I would be amendable to visiting the fish market tomorrow… provided you finish all the meals I provide for you."

Tasteless or not, he had seen plenty of his faunus classmates and students sustain themselves off a healthy diet. Blake could survive finishing a garden salad.

A love for fish aside, the conversation had hammered home one of Taiyang's looming worries. In the past he had struggled greatly to be a good father for his daughters. How was he going to approach taking care of a faunus girl?

 _An important question_ , he decided as he watched Blake forlornly munch on her greens. He would have to go to where such questions were best answered.

A visit into Vale would have to preclude seeing the fishmongers.

 _Blake seems rather book-ish. Perhaps I should bring back something_.

The quiet girl was now staring into space. Her salad sapping the little energy she had left.

 _A good book or two perhaps. And some tuna_.

He had a feeling she'd like that.

~.~

Patch Bridge was a relic of the past.

A functional relic. But the age of flight had supplanted the bridge as the primary vehicle of transportation between the mainland and the little island. Today, the majority of the bridge's users were tourists or engineers, who came out every once in a while to predict when the old thing would collapse.

Taiyang preferred the bridge.

He loved the thrum of his cycle's engine as he traversed those old cobbles. The rough ride as he maneuvered Ajax across decades old debris, a coastal wind caressing his face as he soaked in the history of the bridge. He could just imagine the bridge workers, residents of a more dangerous era, working together against the nature, the grimm, and violence to create a symbol of unity and hope.

 _If only others could realize that_ , he sighed as he drove around yet another crumbling section of the land bridge.

Both Patch and Vale had decided to leave the bridge to die. Mostly for logistical reasons and the lack of the taxable income the bridge used to bring to the local government. It had been cordoned off from the public many years ago. Taiyang was allowed only by virtue of his hunter certification.

Of course, that hadn't stopped him when he was younger. Taiyang could recall fondly the exhilarating chases he had with Vale and Patch police. Good times.

He had hoped to share such experiences with his daughters. Maybe get Yang a motorcycle of his own when she had gotten older. Now though…

Taiyang shook his head as he rode into Vale. There was no use about thinking about what he could have done in the past. Not when he was responsible for another's future.

Blake. He still had no idea what to do with her, and he had so little to work with.

It wouldn't do to simple enroll her in schooling. She was already far behind her peers. Taiyang either had to hire tutors he couldn't afford… or teach her himself. A time commitment he wasn't sure he could undertake. Signal had waited long enough after all.

And then his promise to teach her self-defense? Potential hunters undergo rigorous mental and physically screening even before their first lesson. He had little doubt that his instructors at Beacon would not have approved with his haphazard agreement. He was doomed.

Worried thoughts pervading his mind, Taiyang parked Ajax in front of the bookstore. Briefly, he studied its sign.

 _Tuk's Book Exchange_. Never heard of it. But this place would be as good as any. Taiyang was hardly an avid reader after all.

"Just a minute!" a gruff voice called from the back, as a bell announced Taiyang's entrance.

The shop was surprisingly economic for the small space it occupied. Stacks of books had been placed to make paths between shelves and shelves of print. It seemed to be organized by various tags and labels, but in a very unorthodox manner. Taiyang had little doubt that there was some method to this madness, but for the love of Oum it certainly wasn't obvious to the professor.

A large, muscled man entered his vision from the back of the shop. His arms holding a stack of door stopping volumes, Taiyang quickly realized that this man must be using aura in some way.

"Welcome to Tuk's Book Exchange," the shopkeeper whose nametag was labeled 'Tuk' huffed as he placed the stack of prints onto the floor, "Home of the largest collection of titles in Vale. How may I be of service?"

The man seemed stern. A far cry from the warm elderly shopkeep Taiyang had pictured upon entering the small shop. There seemed to be a lot of those nowadays…

"I'm looking for a couple of books on faunus. Specifically feline faunus."

"Well," Tuk drawled, "I happen to be a puma faunus myself and I can assure you few volumes on feline faunus make the shelves. Is there anything specific you are looking for?"

"History? Behavior?"

Tuk shook his head, "History I don't have. But behavior…" the man strode a stack of books before promptly pulling a volume. He handed it to Taiyang.

" _Meow! Kid's Guide to Your Furry Friends?_ This is for children!"

Tuk shrugged at Tayiang's protest, "Nobody writes about the faunus. Except the newspapers of course," he crossed his arms as he judged Taiyang carefully, "What is this for?"

Taiyang sighed. It was bound to come up eventually, "I have a cat faunus girl at home. And I'm not sure how to take care of her."

"So she's a pet is she?" Tuk raised an eyebrow.

"No!" waving his arms in protest, Taiyang wondered how this had all gone wrong, "Of course not! I just don't know what she needs. If there are any foods she should avoid."

"Relax. I'm joking," the shopkeep answered seriously as Taiyang regarded him, bewildered, "Feline faunus in general I have few books. But cat faunus in particular have a few writings. They seem to be inordinately popular with the humans…" Tuk muttered, before his eyes narrowed, "If you have a faunus daughter, shouldn't her mother be telling you these things?"

"We're not related," Taiyang replied lamely, internally wincing as Tuk's frown tightened.

"I see."

Things were starting to get a little too tense for Taiyang. Desperately, he looked for a way out, "Look. Its likely that the library will have some-"

"No need for that," Tuk interrupted before hollering, "TUKSON! BRING ME THE GUIDEBOOK TO CAT FAUNUS!"

There was an awkward pause between hunter and shopkeeper, until a faunus youth rounded the corner, book in hand.

"My son Tukson," Tuk stated, as Tukson handed him the book, "Tukson, this here is…"

Taiyang caught on quickly, "Taiyang Xiao Long. Of Patch."

The teenager stare at the hunter uncomfortably before turning to his father, "Dad. Can I go now?"

Tuk ignored him in favor of opening the book and pressing its table of contents into Taiyang's face, "Here, this should tell you everything on how to take care of that faunus girl of yours,"

"Faunus girl?" Tukson muttered with an incredulous look, to the ignorance of both men.

"Diet. Sleeping preferences. Common allergies. It should all be in here," Tuk trailed off as Taiyang grabbed the book. The hunter flipped through a few pages before inquiring,

"Anything on culture? History?"

Tuk rolled his eyes, "If you must know. Faunus traditions are oral and are passed through family. Go find someone else to bother."

"I see…"

"Are you going to make a purchase or not?"

Taiyang bit his lip. He was not short on lien with his exceptional Signal pay… but he had hoped for just more than a single book on faunus.

"Do you have anything little girls would enjoy?"

~.~

Tukson watched the hunter ride out of sight through the shop's blinds. Satisfied, he turn to his father with an angry scowl,

"Why did you help him? A human taking care of a faunus? Who knows what his motives are!"

The large faunus merely sighed as he counted out the hunter's lien, "I dislike the situation just as much as you. But the man is a hunter,"

"So?"

Tuk's eyes steeled as he glared at his son, "Hunters are dangerous Tukson. You would do good to remember that. We also have many other faunus to consider, the desperate families that need our aid. One… stray faunus is not the end of the world."

"… stray…" Tukson pronounced the words in disgust. The word had too many negative connotations. But what else could describe a faunus kept from her own community, her identity? Something had to be done.

 _Yes_ , he decided, as his father returned to his work. Tuk was a great faunus, but was ultimately shortsighted. The plight of a single faunus girl would not sway him to action.

But what of his new friends… they seemed fairly passionate about the struggles of the faunus. He could go to them for help! Maybe they could tail the hunter, or perhaps even… liberate the girl from Patch?

 _What organization were they a part of again? White something?_ Tukson wondered as he activated his scroll.

 _No matter_ , he'd know soon enough anyway.


	3. The Family

**Author's Note:**

 **I found the first chapter of my story highly unsatisfactory when I read it. Thus, as of the posting of Ch. 3 of _The Stray_ I have rewrote and uploaded Ch. 1. Hopefully you will find it of higher quality than the original.**

 **Thank you for all who dropped a review and anyone who has decided to give their attention to this work of mine. A friend of mine has pointed out that I use some highly irregular verbiage and tend to write a little minimalistic for her tastes. As an amateur writer I hope to improve on these areas in time.**

 **A question was raised on the fate of Ruby and Yang. I hope to answer such questions in this chapter.**

* * *

The Family

* * *

The nights in Patch were inordinately cool, Blake decided, as she further nuzzled into her fuzzy body blanket.

Patch was full of chilly breezes. The West winds blew in from the sea carrying the smell of salt and fish as it rattled against the island population. At night, such breezes turned into howling gales. Blasts of freezing air that threatened to turn Blake into a kitty popsicle. Taiyang's old-fashioned thin paper windows hardly helped either, and the hunter was adamantly against "modernizing" his home with additional amenities. He was entirely too traditional for his own and her good. She was from Vale after all, and not one of the island's cold-blooded abominable snowmen inhabitants.

Taiyang was not without pity however. Consequently, she slept each and every night in a nest of warm blankets in a continued struggle against the cold.

But as much as the drastic temperature change affected her physically, Blake had learned to embrace this new night the past few weeks.

The orphanage had been in an inexpensive part of town. A small building tucked under a major tramway next to a busy late-night restaurant. Her room had always stank of fuel and ozone in the morning, whilst stinking of leftovers and grease at night. If by some luck she could ignore her ever so sensitive nose the ever present urban noise would keep her awake. Inner city Vale never slept after all, and neither did its orphans.

Thus, the provincial smell of salt and fish was a blessing more so than a curse. It helped that the two together created her favorite dish. Blake had also always been the quiet one. The girl who kept to herself. Faunus ears had made her aware of the deafening din that surrounded the orphanage. Here on Patch, the night was as silent as the grave.

And she liked that. She really did.

Stifling a yawn, Blake giggled as she turned to the next page. _The Hunteress and the Dragon_ had a plot that was a little juvenile and cliché for her tastes, but she appreciated Taiyang's gift. It was an exciting novella about a mellow dark-haired huntress named Della who fight a gigantic fire-breathing dragon protecting its hoard of rubies. The main character was too relatable. Blake could almost see herself as the admittedly sometimes cowardly hero that was determined to carry the weight of the mission on her shoulders. She loved it. Even if she had initially been disappointed at the lack of ninjas.

Her amber eyes gleamed in the moonlight at the thought of dusty volumes of leather clad heroes. Heroes that blended with the shadows, who fought both the law and the monsters that plagued the world. Those legendary masters of the school of hard kicks, and the school of hard punches, and the school of hard head-butts. Ninjas were so exciting! And so much better than Knights and Hunters and Mages.

She thought Taiyang's promise to teach her to fight and maybe – even if he didn't say – make her into a ninja.

 _Well… I think hunters are ok after all_ , she mentally decided, firmly placing hunters in 'second place'. Nothing would ever replace her dear ninjas after all. If she could, she would read every piece of literature related to ninjas in the entirety of Remnant! She had been obsessive enough to scare the head caretaker, who had banned all forms of leathery heroism from the building. Her older faunus friends who lived on the streets had helped her circumvent such regulations of course, but they never visited to her often.

"Soon Blake. When you're older," they had said beaming with adoration. Or at least, that's how she remembered they had acted. How exciting it would have been to join them on their intercity romps! They were all great artists who liked to put their paintings all over the place. So great, that even the Vale police kept getting mad at them.

A thought struck her as she gently closed her book, earmarking her page for convenience as she carefully tucked her gift away.

 _I could join them_.

Not right away of course. From her trip to Taiyang's abode she had realized how far Patch was from the mainland, and how far Taiyang lived from the Patch community. If she wanted to meet with her cool friends it would have to wait for the opportune moment. A visit into the city perhaps. Taiyang probably would not mind… and he had promised her freedom after all. She would not be leaving after all, just playing with her friends.

Additionally, Blake was a big girl, she knew how to handle herself. Sort of. Besides, her friends were all older than her, and they were sometimes more protective than even Taiyang himself.

The more she thought about this potential adventure the more she liked it. A visit into Vale - some time with her friends - and then a return back to the peace of Taiyang's home. No caretakers. No rules. What could go wrong?

~.~

Blake blissfully soaked in the morning rays, yawning mightily with outstretched arms as she approached the kitchenette. Her tiny hands rubbed her tired eyes. A consequence of late nights and early mornings.

The caretakers had ensured their charges awoke at the first light of every day. Thus, Blake had gotten used to waking up at the crack of dawn. The orphanage too, had ensured Blake slept a full nine hours by way of nightly curfews. Taiyang however, held no such restrictions. Blake would be the first to admit that she had taken advantage of such circumstances.

"Eeeee!" Blake yowled at the piles of leafy greens on the kitchen table. Taiyang merely stared at her, confused.

"Who- oh Blake…" Taiyang muttered, seemingly both bewildered and lost in thought.

A travesty! Blake declared. Salad in the morning? Her ears instinctively flattened as she regarded the three plates of disgusting vegetable. There had better be some kind of fish tonight, or Oum help her Taiyang would pay.

Blake blinked. Three plates? Was Taiyang expecting a guest? But Blake was dressed only in her pajamas!

"Is someone supposed to eat with us?" she wondered aloud, gingerly taking a seat at the table. Taiyang continued to look lost and she briefly entertained the idea of dumping the 'breakfast' onto the floor.

A look of indescribable longing blossomed on the hunter's face. Obvious enough for even to Blake to pick up. In a distinctively sorrowful and expectant tone the hunter answered,

"Yes… there is someone that should be sitting there," Blake could hardly even hear Taiyang's bewildered mutterings. A stark contrast to the man's normally nonplussed demeanor.

This was too alien for her. Sitting across from a man obviously in grief as she took advantage of his house and home, whilst simultaneously criticizing her breakfast menu. Using a high chair meant for his daughter no less. What had she been thinking? She didn't belong here.

Wordlessly, she moved to leave, dropping from her wooden perch. Taiyang deserved to mourn in peace.

"Blake."

She froze, and slowly turned. His face was calm and passive, but the absence of his former grief was telling to even one of her age.

"Don't skip your breakfast because of me. Please… sit," he quietly implored.

Blake eyed the table carefully, before relenting. With a practiced quiet grace she climbed back onto the high seat. Her eyes meeting Taiyang's own.

"What were their names?" Blake asked carefully.

Taiyang gave a bitter laugh, "Are we doing this? Am I really going to talk about this with a child of all people?"

Annoyed, Blake bit her lip but continued unperturbed, "What were their names?"

Abruptly Taiyang's eyes narrowed. The hunter scanned her face carefully and Blake began to fidget under his gaze. Harsh steel-like eyes regarded her and she couldn't help but compare the hunter to a dragon. An aged dragon, with a contained but ever-present presence of dominating ferocity.

Unconsciously she thought back to Della, the huntress of her stories. How she must have felt staring into the great maw of the dragon, lined with thousands of teeth and ready to swallow her whole.

"Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose."

Taiyang had replied in monotone and with great care. There was no inflection in his voice, no emotion, no emphasis. Blake imagined an automaton would not sound dissimilar. Wordlessly, she quietly rolled their names of her tongue, before she blinked in confusion.

"Your daughters had different surnames?"

Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose. Yang was obviously his daughter… but Ruby. Was it possible that he had adopted before? Blake could not help feeling a blossoming spark of hope.

A hope quickly dashed by Taiyang's plain answer, "Ruby took her mother's name and Yang took my own."

"Tell me about them."

"Yang was a sweet girl, if rather loud and excitable. She took a lot after her mother. I was pretty sure she was going to grow up willful and headstrong," Taiyang's voice had begun to accommodate a certain reminiscent quality that was still traced with tones of uncertainty. Blake expected he was still struggling on whether this conversation was acceptable for someone like her to hear.

Blake thought that was silly of course. She was a big girl. Who else would Taiyang approach anyway? Qrow had left with a certain finality that made Blake certain that neither she nor Taiyang would see him again. Taiyang never had any visitors. He never spoke of any friends or close relatives.

"Ruby was her mother's little jewel," he laughed bitterly, "I wish I could have known her better. I knew Yang loved her so much."

"And their mother?" Blake ventured hesitantly, this was dangerous territory after all.

"Mothers," Taiyang corrected as he sheepishly rubbed his hands together. Blake looked confused for a second but said nothing, "Yang's mother left us when Yang was small. Ruby's mother…" He sighed, "Hunters and huntresses work to protect the kingdom… and our time on Remnant is almost always short. It is a profession for the young and the foolhardy. The idealists," he smiled fondly as he reminisced memories long passed, "We were such idealists."

"Left?" Blake was troubled by the words. In fact, she was troubled by nearly everything he had said.

When she had first arrived in this quaint home, coming around the bend backpack in tow as she followed the grey hunter she had imagined someone who had led a lucky life. The scenery was quaint and peaceful, a far cry from the busy city. The house, while old-fashioned had seemed very large and colorful. She had thought she was to be living with some rich family on their estate.

The orphanage had its fair share of tragedies. Some kids would contract a disease and be out for a week or two. There were horror stories of the older kids getting shipped out to places unknown. But since Blake hadn't been particularly close with anyone she had barely registered such cases. Adoptions were rare. There seemed to be an invisible threshold of age that she had crossed, when families no longer considered a child young enough to adopt.

Thus Blake had never experienced the loss Taiyang must be feeling. She could scarcely comprehend it. That someone would just up and leave a perfectly fine family, when there were so many wishing for a family of their own. It was selfish.

Blake kept such opinions to herself of course. Calling his wife selfish would hardly endear herself to him.

"What happened to your daughters?"

There was an uncomfortable silence. Long enough for Blake's eyes to trail over the forgotten breakfast as Taiyang held a faraway look in his eyes. Blake was starting to pick up little details that she felt were out of place for such a dainty breakfast. The dishes from last night had remained unwashed in the sink, and the morning's salad was haphazard in presentation. There was no glass of water for her, and he had neither coffee nor tea in front of him. Signs of a chef simply performing the motions without care or attention.

Blake stilled herself as Taiyang seemed to snap out of his reverie. She licked her dry lips in anticipation, and silently urged him on in her head.

"Yang had always been curious, a girl of an inquisitive nature. I never told her why her mother left us. I was hoping I could delay that conversation until she had gotten older," Taiyang sighed, "I was selfish. I thought that I could keep up the pretense of family. That Summer, Ruby's mother, could easily fill the void that Yang's mother had left. That the four of us could exist as a perfect family, and that Yang didn't need to hear the truth if she was happy."

Blake silently nodded. There had been… times in her life when she was forced to cover up certain truths about others and herself for safety. It was what had led her to wearing a black bow over her ears. A reminder that somethings should stay hidden.

"But when Summer died the questions came back. In force. I… didn't handle their mother's death very well and was quick to ignore Yang's pleadings. At first she wouldn't stop asking. Then the questions slowed… and she began searching for the answers herself. It wasn't long before she found something. Directions to the little house on the far side of Patch where I married her mother. She left. She had bundled up little Ruby into the little red wagon of hers and attempted to make the journey with her sister in tow. I had not even noticed their absence, blinded by grief as I was, until Qrow had appeared on my doorstep bearing the grave news," Taiyang took a breath, clenching his fists in ashamed anger as he continued in bitter words, "Grimm. Patch had never gotten rid of its native population of monsters, it never had to. We had held our wedding in that valley because we were never concerned about our safety as hunters. Yang and Ruby… they were just children. When Qrow had finally caught up to them, he found nothing but a shredded cloak and an overturned wagon."

Momentarily rendered speechless, Blake continued to stare at the grief-stricken hunter. To lose daughters to a grimm attack of all things… especially as a hunter himself. It was too tragic.

Grimm had always felt so far away in the orphanage. They had never breached Vale's mighty walls and before leaving for Taiyang's she had never even left the city's center. She had only heard stories. Of unfeeling monsters of shadows that preyed on the outskirts of humanity's strongholds. Stories of horror and anguish.

Taiyang seemed so strong and fierce. She had little doubt he could handle any grimm he came across. But someone like her? Young and lost? Blake could not help but shiver at the thought. _If I had left… and couldn't find my way to back to Vale_ …

But this was not the time to be thinking about herself.

Here was man who was hurting badly from loss, but was kind of enough to open his doors to someone like her.

 _I'll make it right_ , she decided as silence befell table's occupants. _Somehow, I'll make sure Taiyang has a family again… even if I can't be a part of it_.

A trip into Vale could wait. It would have to.


End file.
